


The Burdens We Bear

by J_J_Janson



Series: Amidst the Tempest [4]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi | Fire Emblem: Binding Blade, Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Platonic Hector & Lilina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 13:25:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14812212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_J_Janson/pseuds/J_J_Janson
Summary: While grappling with her anxieties over taking the throne of Ostia, Lilina is forced to face a mindless monster that looks like her father.





	The Burdens We Bear

Shadows twisted and churned in the air, winds whipping the darkness around like a pitch black sandstorm. Lilina clutched at her tome as she stepped through the harshest area of wind. That masked figure, Marth, had told her that this was the eye of the storm, and inside she would find an enemy that had to be defeated in order for the Tempest to end. 

As Lilina struggled through the intense winds, it felt all too familiar. Left blind and battered around, she wandered alone in the dark. Her father had passed away, and Roy had his own responsibilities. While those loyal to her father supported Lilina as they could, she was left to take her father’s place as ruler of Ostia all the same. She felt like she couldn’t live up to his legacy. Back in her world, Ostia was still at war with Bern. Once she went back, she would have to resume her fight. She’d have to be a leader in her own right, or else her country would fall. 

Before Lilina could linger on that fear, she stepped out of the darkness. And into a chamber filled with broken columns. It was roughly circular in shape, and it reminded Lilina of a jaw full of broken teeth. In the center stood an imposing broad-shouldered statue.

At least, she thought it was a statue until it turned to her and she saw a face that stopped her heart.

Her father.

Not the younger version of him she had met here in Askr, who had been kind to her and done his best to treat her as his daughter even though he was only a couple of years older than her. No, this was her real father.

His hair was not slicked-back like usual, and his beard had grown long and unkempt, but it was him. His broad shoulders that Lilina remembered being carried on, his strong arms that had wrapped her in a tight hug before leaving to fight Bern, it was all there.

And yet his eyes burned. There was a deep anger there, unlike anything Lilina had ever seen in him. She had seen him angry, yes, but never once like this. 

His eyes locked with her and he began to growl. 

Lilina clutched her tome to her chest as he held up the legendary axe, Armads, that he had wielded as a younger man but that she had never seen his older self wield. 

“Father, it’s so good to see you,” Lilina found herself saying, even as her father rushed at her like a bull seeing red.

Lilina did not respond until the last possible moment, rolling forward to avoid the axe hurtling towards her, and running towards a broken column.

She kept glancing at the ground so she didn’t stumble on a piece of rubble, and tried to focus some of her attention behind her as she ran. Her father’s rampage continued for several long seconds before the sound of his stomps went quiet for a second and then returned with a vengeance as he turned and ran after Lilina. 

Finally, Lilina reached a broken column, and ducked behind it. Up close, Lilina could see clear marks where an axe had bitten into the stone. Her father had torn this room apart.

There was a loud clang, like a bell’s solemn toll, as Hector slammed into the column. 

He roared as he was knocked backwards, but appeared disoriented. He began to wander around, sniffing the air like some kind of animal.

Lilina wished she wasn’t cowering behind the column, but it was all she could think to do. This wasn’t her father, it was some kind of madman who wore his face.

Then something Marth had said clicked in Lilina’s head. “Lord Hector is a great man, but he bears a heavy burden. Taking up Armads condemned him to a cruel fate. But he did it so he could protect his friends.” 

Was this what Marth had meant? Was this some cruel fate her father could have had? If he had not fallen on the battlefield, would he have someday fallen victim to this mindless rage?

Her father had this hanging over his head for his entire adult life, during his entire rule of Ostia, and yet he had still managed to be a good ruler and a kind father. 

Lilina looked down at her tome. She had been entrusted with the legendary Forblaze, one of the eight legendary weapons of Elibe. With it, even she might be able to match Armads. 

Lilina steeled herself. Her father had fought a war of his own at her age. He’d taken the responsibility of a legendary weapon, and one that took a heavier toll on its wielder than Forblaze did. He had done that, and so could Lilina. Because if her father could, so could she. And if she did, it would make him proud. 

Lilina stood up, and peeked past the column to take stock of her situation.

Hector prowled the area, still sniffing the air. He could no longer even think. He was an animal acting on instinct. 

Picking up a stone, Lilina hurled it to the opposite side of the chambe, readying her tome as the stone sailed through the air. Forblaze felt heavy in her hands, but for the first time Lilina felt as if she could wield it properly.

The stone hit the ground on the other side of the chamber, and the sudden noise turned Hector towards it. He stalked towards the sound with the grace of a drunken bear. 

Covertly, Lilina stepped out of her hiding place. She opened her tome, and began to draw power out of it. 

As soon as she activated it, it was like she had opened the door to a furnace. She wanted to shy away from the heat, but she needed this power to win the fight. She drew that heat back up her arm, through her chest, and down her other arm towards her outstretched hand. Power began to gather in front of her palm, taking the form of a flickering, starving flame. But Lilina drew more and more power, feeling a wildfire run through her body. 

But it was a wildfire she held on a leash, one she could tame. 

Once she had her power gathered, Lilina let out a roar of her own and a bolt of fire shot out of her hand towards Hector.

His back was turned, and the bolt struck him hard from behind.

Following the path set by the bolt of flame, fire began to rain down from the air above with the brutality of a torrential downpour. The space between Hector and Lilina was filled with flames in the space of a heartbeat, with more of flames burying Hector.

Lilina didn’t hesitate for a moment, already drawing power for another attack. Her hands burned, the one that held the tome and the one that held the magic, and she could feel the intense heat of the magic as she drew it from one point to the other. But she still had it under control, still held the wildfire on a leash, keeping it away from her heart and lungs. The magic flowed through her with all the force of a flood, but Lilina willed dams into place that made the magic go where she bid it.

A sweep of Hector’s axe blew away the flames around him. There were still a couple of smoldering flames in his unkempt hair, but he did not even notice those. He began his charge just as Lilina unleashed another attack.

A bolt of fire shot through the air, slamming into Hector’s breastplate, and it knocked him back a couple of steps. But he resumed his charge even as fire rained down on him. 

Lilina charged up another shot, but another swing of his axe cleared the fire around Hector.

He was right in front of Lilina in a moment, and didn’t even bother bringing his axe down.

As Hector’s fist found Lilina’s gut, she felt the air leave her as she was sent flying back. 

All Lilina could see was a spot on Hector’s breastplate that had begun to melt, and then her back smashed into a column, the stone making contact with her back and legs. She hit with enough force that she flipped over it and landed behind it. 

It took everything Lilina had to stand up again, and she could barely keep her legs under her. It was as if she were on a ship in the midst of a storm, but she knew it was not the ground that was unsteady. 

With one step, and another, Lilina stumbled out from behind the column. 

Hector had turned away again, confused when he lost sight of her. But now his attention was back on Lilina.

He began his charge.

Throwing caution to the wind, Lilina gave up on taming the magic. She let it run wild through her body on its way from the tome to her outstretched hand.

It burned, it really burned, Lilina could feel the fire inside of her. But the heat was not as hot as the flame in her heart, burning with a hatred towards this mindless thing that wore her father’s face and haunted his nightmares. She was facing down her father’s deepest fear, what he could have become if he had lost control of himself. She would burn it away and come out of this a queen that would make her father proud. 

Lilina swore it as the raging power of Forblaze rushed through her body and into her hand.

Hector had only taken a step towards her when Lilina unleashed her attack.

And this wasn’t a simple bolt of fire.

It was as if Lilina’s hand were a trebuchet, hurling a massive boulder of fire towards Hector. He slashed with Armads at it, but it continued and barrelled into him. Lilina could smell burnt hair and flesh, and could see his armor melting. 

Behind the boulder of flame came a sea of fire, setting the entire room alight. 

Even amidst the flames that were eating away at him, Lilina could see her father ready one last attack.

With the last of his strength, he hurled Armads at her.

It cut through the fire and air between them, crackling with untamed lightning.

And Lilina let the flames of Forblaze run through her once more, feeling the same rush of power but only a fraction of the pain. Before, she had not tamed it, she had only held it back. Now though, the tome could feel the fire burning in her heart and burned along the path she needed it to without direction. The full force of the magic was raging through her, like a pack of hunting dogs in pursuit of a bear. 

And all of that power gathered in her hand, and she sent it out with a roar, the magic clashing in the air with Armads.

A wall of fire slammed into a wall of lightning, and for a moment Lilina was blinded.

After a moment, she was able to open her eyes and take stock of the area around her.

The entire chamber was scorched, and she could see no sign left of Hector.

Armads was embedded in a column on the opposite side of the room, blasted away by Lilina’s magic. Even as she began to look at it, she could see it begin to melt.

In only a moment, the weapon that had cursed her father was a simple pool of melted metal on the ground.

As Lilina fell to her knees in relief, she heard a familiar voice. 

It had a youth and a brashness she was still getting used to, but it was Hector’s. “Lilina, we’re here to back you u-”

Lilina turned to see her father and Uncle Eliwood standing on the outer edge of the chamber. 

Eliwood took only a moment to assess the situation. “It seems Lilina handled this for us.”

Hector stared at the battle-scarring Lilina had left on the room, seeing the end result of the fire magic she had put on display. Awestruck, he said, “That’s my little girl.”

Hector was still a bit dumbfounded, and his eyes locked onto the remnants of the false Armads the Tempest had generated without realizing what it was.

Eliwood approached Lilina. “Are you hurt, Lilina?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine, Uncle Eliwood.” She tried to stand up, but fell back to her knees. She had only taken one blow from the false Hector, and barehanded at that, but it had knocked most of the fight out of her. She’d used up the last of her strength lashing out with Forblaze. “It seems I was hurt more than I thought.”

At that, Hector ran over. “Lilina, you’re hurt?”

He knelt beside her. “Eliwood, please fetch a healer, I’ll wait here with my daughter.”

Eliwood nodded to his friend, his eyes full of pride. Hector had stepped into the role of Lilina’s father with zeal, and while he could be a bit overbearing, Eliwood respected the bond he was trying to build with his newfound daughter. Without another word, he left to get a healer.

“Father,” Lilina spoke up. “I want you to know I’m proud of you. I didn’t realize how hard you had it until I saw the thing in here. It was a mindless monster that looked like you.” Hector’s face grew grim at that. “But that wasn’t who you are. It isn’t who you become. You’re a firm but fair ruler, and you were always a kind father to me. I defeated that monster, the one you were afraid of becoming. And I’m going to make you proud, I promise.” Lilina gave Hector a hug.

Lilina felt teardrops fall onto the top of her head. “Oh Lilina. I’m sure your me would be proud of you, because I know I am. And I must really grow up into a good guy to raise a daughter like you who respects him so much. I bet you’re real scared of taking the throne of Ostia. I know I am. But I bet if big oaf like me can, you’ll far surpass me.”

“You’re the big oaf that can’t help being a dad to a girl you’ve just met. You’re the big oaf that took on a great burden to help his friends. You may be a big oaf, but you’re a big oaf I’m proud to call my father.”

“Yeah, and you’re the fiery brat that’ll show up Eliwood’s kid and your old man.”

Lilina could still feel the fire burning in her heart as she said, “You know what, I think I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> I got real emotional during the Tempest Trial with Hector as the boss, with him realizing that he could become a mindless raging monster as a price for using Armads. And it happened again during the father-daughter scenes with Hector and Lilina. Those were some of my favorite moments in FEH so far, so I decided to work both of them into this.


End file.
